A/N Thanks as usual for all of the reviews! I'm glad you all like the last chapter because I just never could get it tweaked the way I wanted it:D This one will be a little longer and more extensive. It's cold and dreary here today and a good day for writing.

Chapter 6 A Time To Heal

4 days later…………………..

Stella hits the button on the elevator in deep thought……………………… It has been a long 5 days. She can't believe that Mac is out in a room and sitting up in a chair and getting close to the point of going home. The doctors still have some concerns about the headaches he is having, but the soreness and bruising from the rest of his body is almost totally gone. The hair in the back where they shaved his head for the staples is already growing back. She knows he is beyond ready to go home. He's been irritable from being cooped up in the hospital. The elevator stops on the 4th floor and a priest steps on and speaks to her. When he turns around, Stella leans back against the wall and wonders if God is trying to tell her something. She's thought constantly that she should be telling Mac how she feels. She remembers clearly that promise she made to God at Mac's bedside the night of the accident. She's been to see Mac every day, but the timing never seems right. He has been trying to keep up with Ashley and her progress. He's been trying to work from the hospital. He's been so quiet and she can't help but wonder if he is thinking about Claire. The elevator doors open and Stella steps off deciding that when the time is right, she'll talk to Mac.

Mac is looking out the window of his room brooding. He's so tired of sitting in this damned chair. He can't stand people having to wait on him. He has to admit that his day is brighter every time Stella walks in the room. He smiles thinking about the fact that she has been here every day. She is the only person he's really let take care of him, but with her it just feels so natural. Nothing has felt that natural since ………………….Claire. He leans his head back and closes his eyes. What the hell are you doing, Taylor………..

Stella steps in the room and wonders if Mac is sleeping. His eyes are closed and his head is leaned back against the hospital recliner. She tries to walk in quietly, but he hears her heels click and raises up.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?" she smiles and says. Mac smiles back. "No, I was just thinking."

"You've had a lot of time for that the past few days, huh?" she says sitting down on the side of the bed.

Mac rakes his hands through his hair. "I swear if they don't let me go home soon, I'm going to go AWOL. I've got to get out of here." Stella gives him an understanding smile.

"They are saying maybe tomorrow, huh? You can make it one more day. Have they done another CT Scan today?" She asks.

Mac nods, "They did and they said it was normal. The brain swelling is gone and they don't really know about the headaches. Dr. Lassiter, the neurologist, told me that it could just be a result of the head trauma. He said they would treat them with migraine medicine and see how that works." He shrugs, "I can live with the headaches. I just want to get my life back to normal. I know you are tired of babysitting."

Stella smirks at him. "Babysitting? Is that what you think I am doing?"

Mac could see that he'd raised her defenses. "No, Stella, I don't mean that to be offensive. I'm just saying that you have been here every day and put your life on hold for me and you shouldn't have had to do that. You need your life back."

Stella looks past him out the window. She wants to throttle him. Another part of her wants to cry. "Did it ever occur to you that I've been here because I wanted to be?"

Mac shakes his head. "At a hospital? In a waiting area? In hard chairs for hours on end. Horrible food. Bad coffee. Yeah………I'm sure you wanted to be here."

Stella tries to fight back the hurt. Does he honestly have no idea? She wonders what kind of damage her honesty would do to their friendship and their working relationship. She wants to yell at him and just tell him everything that is in her heart and yet she sits there, unable to form the words.

Mac looks at her, "I do appreciate it though, Stella. I don't mean to sound ungrateful."

Stella's voice cracks on her response, "Glad I could help." Before she could help it, tears were sliding down her cheeks.

Mac raises up in the chair and realizes something is really wrong here. He gets the feeling he is really missing the boat. He holds on to the arms of the chair because what he really wants to do is grab her and wipe her tears and kiss her hair. He shakes his head wondering where all this keeps coming from. He's had these thoughts over the past year, but they just keep magnifying. "Stella, why are you crying? Talk to me."

Stella looks at him and gives him a bitter, hurt laugh. "Mac, I watched you fall off of a 4 story building. I looked over the roof to see Danny checking for a pulse. You were unconscious and still and I thought you were dead. I have never been so terrified in my life. I went down those stairs with Don and I swear it seemed like those stairs would never end." She was sobbing now. Mac feels a lump in his throat as he watches her raw pain. He realizes he has been so focused on himself that he hasn't even though about what his team has gone through. The fear and emotion they'd all been battling all week had not been mentioned by any of them. Until now, as he watched Stella cry openly.

She takes a deep gulping breath and continues, "They loaded you on the ambulance and there was blood everywhere. We were all so scared that we couldn't even comfort each other. You weren't moving and we had no idea if you were going to live or die. So, while you were unconscious, Mac, I was realizing how important you are to me and how horribly devastated I would be if you weren't in my life anymore. You've been a dynamic boss, a treasured friend, and I care about you more than you will ever know and more than I ever realized. So forgive me, Mac, if I am offended that you think I am your babysitter. I've been here because I thank God for saving you and every day that you get better is a day closer to having the Mac back that I know and love. I've wanted to be a part of that. Your nurse can baby-sit you. I've been here because I care. So much more than I wish I did."

And with that, Stella gets up and leaves the room.

"Stella!" Mac yells after her. He gets up out of the chair and is so dizzy he can't move. He sits back down and puts his head in his hands. He kicks his slippers across the room. The dizziness eases off and Mac realizes his cheeks are wet. He is crying without even realizing it. He tries to organize his thoughts.

"What a selfish man I am. I've been so caught up in my own needs that it never occurred to me what anyone else was going through. Did Stella say she loved me? How do I fix this mess? Can I ever make her understand now that I wanted her here with me? That she was my lifeline and I could have never gotten through this without her. I really think she said the word love. Do I love her? I sure feel something for her. I know that when she was crying and it was because of me, I felt like the most wretched man in the world. I've got to talk to her. I've got make this right. Where did she go? She's got to come back."

Mac picks up the phone and dials Stella's cell. It went straight to voice mail. He dials again to call Flack to see if he can find Stella. Danny walks in the door. "Hey Danny. You are just in time. Have you seen Stella?" Mac says. Danny nods and tells Mac that she and Lindsay are down in the lobby. Mac breathes a sigh of relief. "Was she OK?"

Danny looks at his boss and wonders what in the world is going on. "Yeah, Mac. She seemed OK to me. Her and Lindsay just started talking about this flower arrangement in the gift shop and that was too much estrogen for me so I told them I was coming on up."

"OK, maybe she'll come back up with Lindsay. Just wait it out." He thought to himself.

Danny looks hard at Mac. "Are you OK Mac, you look a little pale?"

Mac laughs, "Yeah, Danny I'm fine. As good as I can be after having a good woman put me in my place anyway."

Danny cackles in laughter, "Ohhhhhhhhhh! I get it! No wonder you're pale." They both laugh. "So, Mac, I hear you're getting' outta here tomorrow." Danny says, deciding to leave the fight with Stella alone. He could tell Mac was worried about it. Danny wants to ask more questions, but doesn't think it's his place to do that.

"Yeah, I hope so. I can't stand this. I hate being stuck here. I need to be at work. There's so much to do."

Danny clears his throat, "You know………uh……….Mac, we're doing OK at work. We're carrying double loads and we for sure miss you, but you've……..um………you've taught us well."

Mac looks at Danny, stunned. "Thanks Danny. You're the last person I thought would ever say that to me."

Danny looks out the window and chews his bottom lip. He can't believe he's doing this,"If I hadn't seen you fall off that building Mac, I prolly never woulda told ya. I gotta tell you though, man, when I thought you might be dead, it scared me. I want to say that I'm sorry for all the times I have butted heads with you. I can't say that I agree with every decision you have made, but you've been more of a father to me than my own father ever was and I'm sorry for the times I've let ya down." Danny says with a voice so thick with emotion that he can hardly swallow.

Mac is afraid to speak because tears are pooled in his eyes. "You're a good man, Danny. You're a damned good CSI. I ride you hard because I believe in you. We're gonna let each other down sometimes, but I'm proud of you."

Danny jumps up because tears begin to fall. He slaps at his face and turns away from Mac who is still trying to hold his tears in. "So, uh…………Mac, you need me to go find Stella?"

Mac gives Danny the escape he needs. "Yeah, if you don't mind. I need to talk to her."

Danny turns his pacing toward the door and says quickly as he's leaving, never looking back at Mac, "Ok, I'll go find her and I'll talk to you tomorrow. Lindsay rode with me so she'll see you tomorrow too."

Mac grins because Danny is already gone. The kid can't handle emotion and Mac realizes how much that reminds him of himself.

Danny gets downstairs and meets Lindsay about to get on the elevator. "Where is Stella?" he asks Lindsay. Lindsay points to the door. "She just left; she is going to the office." Danny tells Lindsay to come with him and he runs out the door. Lindsay follows him wondering what the heck is going on. Danny sees Stella unlocking her car door.

"Stella, hold up!" he yells. Stella turns around with a surprised look on her face. "What in the world…………" she asks as Lindsay catches up with Danny who has already reached Stella's car.

"You need to go back upstairs, Stella. Mac needs to talk to you."

Stella wonders how much Danny knows and what has brought this on. "Lindsay was on her way up to see Mac. He has you guys so I am going to the office for a while."

Lindsay pipes up, "Yeah! I was on my way up when Danny came off the elevator and told me to come with him to find you."

Stella looks back at Danny. Danny says, "Look Stella. I dunno what went down with you and Mac. Alls I know is he is up there looking as sad as you are and he told me that a good woman had put him in his place. You were the only woman up there so I am deducting that was you. He was on the phone trying to call Flack to find you because you didn't answer your phone when I walked in. He's in no shape to come running after you but he asked me to ask you to come back."

Stella isn't sure whether to be flattered about what Mac had said to Danny or feel guilty because she has run out on Mac knowing good and well he couldn't chase her if he'd wanted to. Maybe that was the reality, she was afraid he wouldn't have wanted to.

"OK. I'll go back up there. Are you guys coming?" she says closing the car door slowly.

Lindsay looks to Danny catching on to the seriousness of the situation. Danny tells Stella that he's told Mac that he and Lindsay had ridden together and they'd talk to him more tomorrow when he got to leave. Lindsay nods to Stella.

Danny smiles at her and says, "He's waiting on you Stella. We'll see you tomorrow."

TBC!

OK, so that was a little longer than I'd expected. I didn't plan on the Mac/Danny conversation it just kinda came to me as I was writing. Please read and review! More soon! This story only has a few chapters left! Susan